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“Censored 2014 is a clarion call for truth telling. Not only does this volume highlight fearless speech in fateful times, it connect the dots between the key issues we face, lauds our whistleblowers and amplifies their voices, and shines light in the dark places of our government that most need exposure.”
–Daniel Ellsberg, The Pentagon Papers

“Most journalists in the United States believe the press here is free. That grand illusion only helps obscure the fact that, by and large, the US corporate press does not report what’s really going on, while tuning out, or laughing off, all those who try to do just that. Americans–now more than ever–need those outlets that do labor to report some truth. Project Censored is not just among the bravest, smartest, and most rigorous of those outlets, but the only one that’s wholly focused on those stories that the corporate press ignores, downplays, and/or distorts. This latest book is therefore a must read for anyone who cares about this country, its tottering economy, and–most important– what’s now left of its democracy.”
–Mark Crispin Miller, author, professor of media ecology, New York University.

“Project Censored continues to be an invaluable resource in exposing and highlighting shocking stories that are routinely minimized or ignored by the corporate media. The vital nature of this work is underscored by this year’s NSA leaks. The world needs more brave whistle blowers and independent journalists in the service of reclaiming democracy and challenging the abuse of power. Project Censored stands out for its commitment to such work.”
—Deepa Kumar, author of Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire and associate professor of Media Studies and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University

“At a time when the need for independent journalism and for media outlets unaffiliated with and untainted by the government and corporate sponsors is greater than ever, Project Censored has created a context for reporting the complete truths in all matters that matter. . . . It is therefore left to us to find sources for information we can trust. . . . It is in this task that we are fortunate to have an ally like Project Cen-sored.”
—Dahr Jamail

“For ages, I’ve dreamed of a United States where Project Censored isn’t necessary, where these crucial stories and defining issues are on the front page of the New York Times, the cover of Time, and in heavy rotation on CNN. That world still doesn’t exist, but we always have Project Censored’s yearly book to pull together the most important things the corporate media ignored, missed, or botched.”
–Russ Kick, author of You Are Being Lied To, Everything You Know Is Wrong, and the New York Times bestselling series The Graphic Canon.

“Project Censored is one of the organizations that we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcasting outlets are practicing thorough and ethical journalism.”
—Walter Cronkite

“The staff of Project Censored presents their annual compilation of the previous year’s 25 stories most overlooked by the mainstream media along with essays about censorship and its consequences. The stories include an 813% rise in hate and anti-government groups since 2008, human rights violations by the US Border Patrol, and Israeli doctors injecting Ethiopian immigrants with birth control without their consent. Other stories focus on the environment, like the effects of fracking and Monsantos GMO seeds. The writers point out misinformation and outright deception in the media, including CNN relegating factual accounts to the “opinion” section and the whitewashing of Margaret Thatcher’s career following her death in 2013, unlike Hugo Chavez, who was routinely disparaged in the coverage following his death. One essay deals with the proliferation of “Junk Food News,” in which “CNN and Fox News devoted more time to ‘Gangnam Style’ than the renewal of Uganda’s ‘Kill the Gays’ law.” Another explains common media manipulation tactics and outlines practices to becoming a more engaged, free-thinking news consumer or even citizen journalist. Rob Williams remarks on Hollywood’s “deep and abiding role as a popular propaganda provider” via Argo and Zero Dark Thirty. An expose on working conditions in Chinese Apple factories is brutal yet essential reading. This book is evident of Project Censored’s profoundly important work in educating readers on current events and the skills needed to be a critical thinker.”
-Publisher’s Weekly said about Censored 2014 (Oct.)

“Activist groups like Project Censored . . . are helping to build the media democracy movement. We have to challenge the powers that be and rebuild media from the bottom up.”
—Amy Goodman

“Project Censored interrogates the present in the same way that Oliver Stone and I tried to interrogate the past in our Untold History of the United States. It not only shines a penetrating light on the American Empire and all its deadly, destructive, and deceitful actions, it does so at a time when the Obama administration is mounting a fierce effort to silence truth-tellers and whistleblowers. Project Censored provides the kind of fearless and honest journalism we so desperately need in these dangerous times.”
—Peter Kuznick, professor of history, American University, and coauthor, with Oliver Stone, of The Untold History of the United States

“One of the most significant media research projects in the country.”
—I. F. Stone

“In another home run for Project Censored, Censored 2013 shows how the American public has been bamboozled, snookered, and dumbed down by the corporate media. It is chock-full of ‘ah-ha’ moments where we understand just how we’ve been fleeced by banksters, stripped of our civil liberties, and blindly led down a path of never-ending war.”
–Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare, cofounder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK.

“Project Censored shines a spotlight on news that an informed public must have . . . a vital contribution to our democratic process.”
—Rhoda H. Karpatkin, president, Consumer’s Union

“Project Censored brings to light some of the most important stories of the year that you never saw or heard about. This is your chance to find out what got buried.”
–Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System.

“Those who read and support Project Censored are in the know.”
—Cynthia McKinney

“Hot news, cold truths, utterly uncensored.”
—Greg Palast

“[Censored] should be affixed to the bulletin boards in every newsroom in America. And, perhaps read aloud to a few publishers and television executives.”
—Ralph Nader

British and American coalition forces are using depleted uranium (DU) shells in the war against Iraq and deliberately flouting a UN resolution which classifies the munitions as illegal weapons of mass destruction.

Nobel Peace Prize candidate, Helen Caldicott, states that the tiny radioactive particles created when a DU weapon hits a target are easily inhaled through gas masks. The particles, which lodge in the lung, can be transferred to the kidney and other vital organs. Gulf War veterans are excreting uranium in their urine and semen, leading to chromosomal damage. DU has a half-life of 4.1 billion years. The negative effects found in one generation of US veterans could be the fate of all future generations of Iraqi people.

An August 2002 UN report states that the use of the DU weapons is in violation of numerous laws and UN conventions. Doug Rokke, ex-director of the Pentagons DU project says “We must do what is right for the citizens of the world- ban DU.” Reportedly, more than 9600 Gulf War veterans have died since serving in Iraq during the first gulf war, a statistical anomaly. The Pentagon has blamed the extraordinary number of illnesses and deaths on a variety of factors, including stress, pesticides, vaccines and oil-well fire smoke. However, according to top-level U.S. Army reports and military contractors, “short-term effects of high doses (of DU) can result in death, while long-term effects of low doses have been implicated in cancer.” Our own soldiers in the first Gulf War were often required to enter radioactive battlefields unprotected and were never warned of the dangers of DU. In effect, George Bush Sr. used weapons of mass destruction on his own soldiers. The internal cover-up of the dangers of DU has been intentional and widespread.

In addition to Doug Rocke, the Pentagon’s original expert on DU, ex-army nurse Carol Picou has been outspoken about the negative effects of DU on herself and other veterans. She has compiled extensive documentation on the birth defects found among the Iraqi people and the children of our own Gulf War veterans. She was threatened in anonymous phone calls on the eve of her testimony to congress. Subsequently, her car, which contained sensitive information on DU, was mysteriously destroyed.

UPDATE BY DAN KAPELOVITZ: Just as “Toxic Troops: What Our Soldiers Can Expect in Gulf War II” hit the newsstands, the U.S. military was dropping a fresh batch of depleted-uranium tipped shells on Iraq. The story couldn’t have been timelier; yet the mainstream media blatantly ignored Hustler’s coverage of the hazards of depleted uranium (DU) and largely failed to report any DU-related stories.

Rather than being ashamed that a porn magazine was more willing than they were to publish the truth, major media outlets kidded themselves into believing that the story didn’t need to be covered, claiming it was “old news.” While it’s true that there has been some limited coverage of DU ever since the first Gulf War, the average American has not heard of depleted uranium. Those who have most likely saw reports focusing on DU’s awesome armor-piercing abilities, not its harmful long-term effects on people and the environment.

Had the mainstream media informed Americans about the hazards to the military men and women caused by our own government, U.S. citizens might not have been so gung-ho to again send our troops to Iraq. Instead, TV pundits constantly told the American people that we attacked the Iraqi people in order to “liberate” them. Thanks to U.S. efforts, the Iraqi population is now free to live in a radioactive battlefield.

As with the first Gulf War, there were relatively few immediate American casualties. But with each passing year, more and more Gulf War veterans are sick and dying, very possibly due to exposure to depleted uranium. The latest Persian Gulf conflict was basically a low-level nuclear war, and our new recruits are destined to suffer DU-related illnesses and fatalities.

While there has been grass-roots activism against the use of depleted uranium, the American military has ignored the concerns and have even discounted their own report, completed six months prior to the first Gulf War, that concluded that DU was indeed dangerous. At least this time around, more soldiers seem to be aware of the possible hazards of DU and are taking precautions to avoid exposure. Some are even placing signs in Arabic to warn Iraqi children not to play with radioactive shells or on contaminated tanks. After the war, the British government, which also used DU weapons, asserted that it should help clean up the radioactive mess that it created. If the American media did its job exposing the truth, perhaps the U.S. government, which was responsible for most of the damage, would be shamed into sharing England’s concerns.

UPDATE BY REESE ERLICH: The Pentagon loves using depleted uranium ammunition because it penetrates and helps blow up enemy targets. They care little about the long-term health effects on enemy soldiers, civilians or even U.S. military vets. As I investigated the issue further, I began to realize the government may well be covering up a health scandal, just as it hid the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

In Basra, before the U.S. invasion of 2003, doctors showed me a photo album of horribly deformed children, some born without noses or eyes. They compiled a cancer registry of children suffering from leukemia and other cancers. Children exposed to DU in southern Iraq saw a four fold increase in cancer and birth defects since 1990.

In “Hidden Killers,” I combined original reporting from Iraq and Bosnia with interviews of U.S. military veterans. Too many Iraqi and Bosnian civilians exposed to DU are showing up with the same kinds of cancers as American Gulf War vets.

I also learned that the Pentagon doesn’t like critics. Military officers and scientists who criticize the Pentagon’s position can come under withering attack. After the Gulf War, Maj. Doug Rokke was assigned to develop official procedures for soldiers at sites where DU was used. He and his committee mandated that soldiers wear special protective clothing because of the cancer risk. The Pentagon overruled him, claiming DU is safe. Rokke, who is on disability as a result of his DU exposure, later had his disability benefits cut off.

The topic of depleted uranium ammunition has surfaced in the mainstream media over the years, but strong denials from the military and the complexity of the topic have muted many of the stories. I’ve had editors at prestigious publications tell me they won’t touch the DU story because it’s “too controversial.” In my opinion, few reporters or editors are willing to risk the career danger inherent in criticizing the Pentagon, or taking on a popular president during “wartime.”

Since “Hidden Killers” came out, the Uranium Medical Research Center (http://www.umrc.net) has published studies showing the devastating impact of DU in the Afghanistan War, and the Christian Science Monitor (5/15/03) featured an excellent report on the impact of DU use in urban areas during the Iraq invasion.

I’d like to particularly thank the Stanley Foundation, a non-profit in Muscatine, Iowa, for its support in producing “Children of War: Fighting Dying, Surviving,” the public radio documentary in which Hidden Killers was featured.